


walking in a winter wonderland

by danthezijn



Series: 10 Days of Christmas [5]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: All the nice things for my boys, Christmas, Cinnamon Roll Newt Scamander, Credence Barebone Gets a Hug, Credence Barebone Heals, Credence Barebone Lives, Credence Barebone-centric, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Happy Credence Barebone, M/M, Snowball Fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 18:12:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13059405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danthezijn/pseuds/danthezijn
Summary: Credence has never been allowed to enjoy the snow before.





	walking in a winter wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following prompt:
> 
> Person A has never seen snow before so Person B takes them skiing/snowboarding/sledding 
> 
> (but i twisted it a little)

Credence breathed out, watching in fascination as it turned into clouds and drifted into the sky. He pulled up his scarf to make sure the cold couldn’t reach his neck. Nuzzling into the scarf, he continued to watch his breath in fascination.

 

He startled when he heard Newt laugh. Carefully stepping down from the porch, he hurried to Newt’s side and smiled a little when the other man wrapped an arm around his shoulders. They walked in companionable silence, Credence looking at the world around him in wonder while Newt watched where they were going.

 

When it started snowing a few days ago, Credence had been excited. Mary Lou had never allowed him or the girls to enjoy it, always making sure they had other work to do. The very few times they were allowed outside during snow season had been to hand out flyers, flimsy jackets doing nothing to protect them from the cold. He couldn’t remember how often he’d seen other kids doing some kind of snow game, a small pit of longing forming in his stomach as he watched them. Mary Lou always made sure to beat that out of him.

 

This year he knew he didn’t have to worry about any of that.

 

It had been two years since the ‘New York subway incident’. Newt had found him after, coaxing him out of his hiding spot in the dark tunnel and into his magical suitcase. Credence often still marvelled at it, the whole magical world that existed while the muggles were none the wiser.

 

He’d been scared, at first. All the magical creatures in the suitcase had given him a wide berth, and while Newt certainly tried to engage him, it was always a little awkward. In the end, it was Dougal that approached him first, sitting next to him on a grassy hill but staying quiet. Credence didn’t know how or why, but he felt very comforted by the gesture.

 

Newt noticed it as well. He started sending Dougal to Credence more often, making sure he was never alone for too long. When he felt comfortable enough after a while, Credence decided to search out Newt – who was still ‘Mister Scamander’ to him, back then. He would just silently join the man when he was making his rounds to feed and care for the creatures, or sit and watch him as he was working on his notes.

 

At a certain point, he couldn’t keep his curiosity to himself any longer. A stream of questions fell out of his mouth – how had Mister Scamander summoned that piece of paper? How come witches were never noticed? Was Credence a witch as well? _Why was he helping?_ – followed by a stunned silence. Instead of being angry or irritated like Credence expected, however, Newt seemed to be delighted that he’d finally asked.

 

Their relationship progressed from there. Credence being less afraid to ask, to learn. After the first few accidents when he started learning _real_ magic, he became even less afraid. Newt wouldn’t punish him. Newt wouldn’t hurt him. Newt was light, and warmth, and gentle hands guiding him in the right direction.

 

Newt was home, too, along with the suitcase and the animals.

 

That was also where he’d spent his first winter after New York. Although Newt had asked and allowed him to go out of the suitcase plenty of times, he just hadn’t felt comfortable with it. He first went out last spring, finally feeling stable enough and actually _confident_ in himself, his abilities and his looks.

 

He’d grown out his hair, which now reached his shoulders and was actually curly. He hadn’t known that, always forced to keep the terrible bowl cut Mary Lou had chosen for him. Newt seemed to like it as well, if the times he ran his fingers through it or braided it was any indication. His shoulders were wider from all the psychical work he did, helping Newt with the animals and the training they did together. He no longer hunched in on himself as much, making him almost as tall as Newt. Newt had traded in his old, stiff, uncomfortable clothes for soft, colourful new ones.

 

His heart wasn’t empty anymore, his brain no longer working against himself, because Newt always seemed to occupy them. He was so very _thankful_ for the other man, and loved him all the more for it. He’d never had much luck, but apparently, he had been allowed Newt Scamander as his friend and family and lover. He didn’t need more in his life.

 

This time the sound of children shouting brought him back to the present. Newt was looking at him, a look of adoration in his eyes, and Credence couldn’t help the flush that spread on his cheeks. He did lean in, however, and gave Newt a quick peck on his lips. The blush he got in response matched the man’s hair perfectly.

 

Something hit him in the back and he froze. Newt came to a halt next to him, frowning and looking behind him. He smiled, making Credence slowly turn around to look at the culprit.

 

It was the shouting children, a little girl clearly looking guilty. He felt panic grip his heart, not knowing what _exactly_ had happened or how to react. He turned to Newt, who smiled at him with sad eyes, like every other time he thought Credence had missed out on something beautiful in his life.

 

Newt turned to the kids, crouching down in front of them to whisper something to them as Credence took the time to collect himself. When his lover returned to his side, his eyes were twinkling and the children were giggling, seemingly dividing themselves into two teams.

 

Grabbing his hand, Newt quietly said, “Come on, love,” which had the children giggle even more. Embarrassment quickly replaced the little terror that was still left.

 

Newt parked Credence with one of the teams, he himself walking towards the other. He turned around to look Credence in the eyes, while declaring, “This is a snowball fight.” The kids murmured in excitement. Credence just stood still, looking for clarification in his lover’s eyes. He didn’t find any.

 

“The rules are simple,” the other man continued. “Each side has ten minutes to build a shelter and make as much snowballs as possible. After ten minutes, we start throwing at each other. The team whose shelter survives the longest, wins. Everybody clear?”

 

A chorus of ‘sir, yes sir’ met his statement and he nodded. He looked back to Credence and smiled. “And remember, this is supposed to be fun. No hurting each other.”

 

The kids had mostly already dispersed to start on their shelters, but Credence understood the message that was meant for him. This was not a bad thing. It was supposed to be fun. He didn’t have to be afraid. _He was allowed to enjoy this._

 

Quickly walking over to his team, he asked the girl who had hit him in the back before what he could do. She put him on snowball making duty, because “You have bigger hands, so you can make bigger and better snowballs.” He also asked her if there were certain rules, to which she just giggled and exclaimed “The only rule is to have fun, silly!”

 

Alright then. He could do this.

 

After ten minutes a bell sounded, and this seemed to be the only sign the kids needed. They started pelting each other with snowballs. Credence was hesitant at first, but when the little girl handed him a snowball he couldn’t just say no. He entered the fray.

 

There was Newt, laughing and bright eyed and absolutely _stunning._ Credence’s breath was taken away, but a snowball whizzing past his head made him focus on the game. He could admire Newt’s beauty later.

 

After a while, he realised that he hadn’t felt this alive in _years._ Him and Newt were going neck and neck, dodging and weaving and throwing. The children were going at it just as intensely.

 

Credence’s team won.

 

The children whooped as the last part of the other’s small fort fell down, theirs only surviving by an inch. They crowded around him, tiny faces smiling and some pulling him down to join their celebration. While the other team was disheartened at first, they quickly joined in and soon he was covered in children.

 

Some parents called out then. The children said goodbye, the little girl even going as far as to hug him before skipping off. When he finally got up, Newt was smiling at him with one of the softest smiles he’d ever seen, giving him an equally soft kiss.

 

“You were amazing, love,” Newt whispered against his lips. Credence smiled, pulling Newt against his side as they resumed their way home.

 

He found that he really loved the snow.

**Author's Note:**

> Part 5 of the 10 Days of Christmas
> 
> can you believe we're already halfway there??? i sure can't
> 
> as soon as i saw Credence in the movie i thought "this is my son and he should be protected and happy" as well as "he's probably going to end up (fake) dead". really sad that came true, so i wrote a much happier version. they deserve to be happy.
> 
> in other news, someone please teach me how to tag
> 
> all mistakes are mine


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